He watched her with hooded eyes as she ran down streets and around corners; following at his own pace. One could almost believe that she was running for her life. Well, who was he kidding, of course she was. But she was supposed to be running from him, not from some guy who saved her life and offered long term protection. The reactions of the wayward princess weren’t making any sense, and it caught his curiosity.
After all, he had a lot of time on his hands, and the princess didn’t have to die quickly; he could just take his sweet time with this and sate this unusual curiosity at the same time.
The princess passed another corner and stopped to catch her breath, leaning on a wall. He watched as she struggled for breath for a minute before sniffing at her shirt and calming down. Interesting… He sniffed the air. Ahh… the male human. That was definitely his shirt. He wondered how she came up with that silly ruse. Did she think that he won’t be able to find her if she masked her scent? Well she had another think coming. How naive to underestimate his tracking skills. He wasn’t the best and baddest Knight of the Unseelie for nothing. He smirked to himself as he watched her move on at a slower pace.
After an hour or so of seemingly aimless walking they arrived at a square. There was a strange building smack dab in the middle of it with fancy lettering on the walls and large marble steps leading to the massive arched doorway. He saw her hesitate at the bottom of the stairs; he could imagine her chewing her bottom lip in thought. Ah that juicy bottom lip that he so liked to bite in their frolics together. She would moan when he did that and it aroused him even more. He shook his head to clear it; this was not the time to be in ones head. He could always have a last frolic before he killed her. Slowly. He grinned to himself. He had plenty of time to devise just how he was going to do it anyway.
Finally she reached the top of the stairs and reached out her hand tentatively. What was she scared of? Getting an electric shock from empty space? He snorted to himself. One would think that the little girl was scared of everything these days. The thought made another smile creep to his rough hewn face. That was until a male appeared in the entrance and engaged the princess in conversation. Who else is she going to get involved in this? Or not… She turned away, preparing to leave. The male said something which made her turn back again. Then she took his hand and entered the building. Damn her! She was going to get a lot of people killed. Silly princess.
He waited for her to go far enough before following to the door. The square was empty and the only light was coming from the four lamp posts, one at each corner of the square, and the light spilling from the doorway of the building. He crouched by the entrance just so the shadows covered him from any curious eyes, and he could observe what was going on inside.
The princess was looking around in… awe? The male was gesticulating, probably telling her about some history about the place or something. She’d be naturally interested. The princess liked reading history books. That’s how she got herself locked up in her room for a few years. These books must have taught her arrogance or something, otherwise she would probably never have said anything cocky to her mother. But then if she didn’t, then he would never have had the pleasure to taste her. Her outspoken manner got her right into his strong and capable hands. Another smirk plastered itself on his face.
Movement inside pulled him out of his thoughts. The male said something and disappeared through a small doorway on the side. The princess looked around before going to follow. Perfect chance to grab her while she’s alone. He got up in one lithe movement and made to enter the building, only to get electrocuted. He cursed softly as he caught himself from falling from the shock. He saw a flash as the princess burst into a run. He cursed again, spitting at the empty space that so rudely prevented him from following, only to see the spit fizzle in the empty space and evaporate. Damn her to the deepest hell.
It was clear that he wasn’t going to gain entry to the place by force or otherwise, so he descended the steps and scouted around the building. There was another small door at the back of the building, but that was about it. The damn place must have been a church. And if he knew anything about so called ‘holy’ places is that any beings like himself would not only be unable to enter, but most probably get evaporated just like his spit did. Luckily he was one of the stronger beings and escaped with a small burn instead. He rubbed his chest, where his tunic was still smoking. The skin visible through the hole was red and itchy, and the hair previously occupying the space completely gone.
Most importantly, how did the princess manage to enter the damned place and survive as well? After all, her heart was supposedly as evil as his own. What trickery did she use to gain entry?! After saying a few more choice words, he decided that he might as well stay and wait a while. She couldn’t stay in there forever. At some point she was going to have to come out and that’s when he would catch her. The familiar smirk restored to his lips, he found a place from which he could view both entrances. Tightening the cloak around his torso, so that the cold air didn’t bother the area which was now open to the elements, he settled down for the wait.
He must have fallen into an exhausted slumber, because before he knew it, a familiar scent was wafting past him. And another newer scent mixing with this. Opening his eyes, he watched as the princess and the human male she’d met the previous night walked out of the main doors and across the square side by side. It was broad daylight, so there was little else he could do but risk casting a glamour on himself to hide his historical attire and multiple sharp weapons. Finally setting on a torn jeans and navy hoodie look, he followed the pair as they made their way to a shopping mall. He hid behind a sign as they went into a clothes shop and emerged a few minutes after with some bags. The princess’s face was a pretty pink colour. He smiled bemusedly to himself and idly wondered what it was that got her to turn this lovely shade. After entering a few more shops and getting a drink at the food court, the pair finally turned and backtracked to the church.
“You really didn’t have to do this for me” Princess’s voice carried back to him.
“I did. I couldn’t leave you in your predicament.” A deep masculine voice answered her. She put a hand on his arm and they stopped, while she looked earnestly into the males eyes.
“You did more than enough Nick. You gave me a place to sleep, fed me. I couldn’t possibly ask for anything else. This..” She pointed emphatically at the bags in his hands “is too much.” So… the little princess got herself a caretaker did she, and one named ‘Nick’ no less. No need for fake money then is there. Clever little princess. He chuckled humorlessly.
“Kim…” Nick seemed to be at the end of his wits, trying not to get rebuked for his kindness. “You are here alone, without family or friends, without money or place to stay or even clothes to wear. Do you think God would forgive me if I had let you continue in this way? It would have been a great sin on my part to not give you even this little. Now please, just accept this as a gift from God.” With this, he turned and the princess seemed to be lost for words, so she just hung her head and followed meekly.
This was getting more interesting by the minute. So the priest took her as a charity case, and she called herself Kim… Of course, telling someone her real name, or even part of it, would have gotten her into grave trouble. There was no point in catching her just yet, he would wait until she was alone and pounce then. Meanwhile it was interesting what else she was going to come up with. After another couple of hours, he had to push himself off the wall and follow the princess once again. She was wearing a fresh tee, the old one was in her hand. She brought it to her face and inhaled deeply before putting it into a paper bag and turning her face this and that way, obviously trying to catch his scent. He gave a slow whiff to the air himself, sensing the males scent somewhere to the north. Surprisingly enough, that was the direction in which the princess turned herself. So… she was going to see the man that she was so desperately running from just two days before. What had he done to warrant such a reaction from her, he wondered.
Picking up her pace, Ash almost sprinted to her destination. He, of course, was not far behind and hid in a deserted alleyway as the princess entered a diner. There were a few minutes of quiet followed by some sort of commotion and she was storming out of the place, minus the bag. Just as she was passing the alleyway, he grabbed his chance.
“So my darling princess…” He hissed into her ear menacingly as he dragged her backwards, one hand on her mouth and the other around her waist, pinning her tightly to him. “Did you miss me?”
YOU ARE READING
Ash: Shattering Illusions
FantasyAsh is not the kind of faerie that you have ever read about. For one she was born to a family of evil faeries. But one does not choose who they are born to... or do they? One thing is for sure, Ash does not like her life, her place or her family an...
